843 ( Ian Anderson - In the Moneylender's Temple )

843 ( Ian Anderson - In the Moneylender's Temple )

I was a bit leery about this album, Divinities: Twelve Dances With God, when it first came out and did not buy it until just a few years ago to complete my collection of Ian Anderson's solo albums. I guess it was the overall concept of the album itself which put me off to begin with, however after I bought it I was pleasantly surprised and some of the songs grew on me; in my opinion going into something with low expectations always makes it better in the end.
The whole concept behind the album was a suite of music themed to some of the major "isms" and cultures in the world with Ian's brand of Contemporary Modern classical music mixed with some Rock. The entire album sounds quite eclectic at times, especially if you "bounce" between or shuffle the songs, however if you listen to it linearly you don't notice it as much. This one, as you might have guessed, would be the "religion" of banking, or as Ian Anderson stated: "Stripped bare, here's "The Moneylender's Temple'; which is a polite way of referring to the loan institutions of the world."

Here is the studio version on YouTube.
Watch a live performance of the song circa '96 on YouTube.


My song pick a year ago today: Dobie Grey - Drift Away
My song pick two years ago today: Lobo - Gypsy and the Midnight Ghost

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